Monday, August 26, 2013

His Tern




It's hard for me to believe this is the final challenge in our first 18-month cycle.....and Mary really picked an interesting one, "to create a work of any aspect of nature with unexpected and surprising color substitutions".  At first glance, it seemed like it would be the easiest, but as the month moved on, idea after idea was discarded.  Paisley lizards and snakes abound, as do a rainbow of birds on a wire.  Colorful cats are not art (so I'm told) and a lot of unexpected colors actually *do* exist in nature, so those won't work.  Maybe I have just over-analyzed the challenge....

I photographed a lot of sea birds when I lived in Florida and was always amused by the terns.  They have an almost laughable seriousness about them, always lined up, facing the same direction, waiting for who knows what.  I went through lots of these photos when I was making my auction square this year and remembered this character in one of them - this "different" bird, making his joyful noise - while the others ignored him and looked away.  He was a colorful guy and I think it is "His Tern".



Material: Hand-dyed cotton fabrics with raw-edge machine appliqué, embroidery and quilting. 18" W x 24" H

6 comments:

  1. Love the piece Martha--you captured them perfectly!

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  2. These guys remind me of the Blues Brothers, except for the crazy one in orange. Love it!

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  3. You are right, Sue! Hadn't thought of it until now :) I really am enjoying Martha's tern series...each successive one better and better, if that's possible. Nice job, Martha!

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  4. Perhaps its the Blues Brothers -- and Paul Shaffer! ;-) Love your 'tern' of phrase and the fun in this piece!

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  5. Thanks, everybody......they are a funny bunch!

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  6. I love the use of colors in this piece, Martha!
    It's lovely and beautiful!
    There are 4 of us making quilts of animals in this challenge.
    I'm so surprised and very happy to see all of them.
    I'm looking forward to the new cycle of V9.

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